Changes in the reef-coral community of Carysfort reef, Key Largo, Florida: 1974 to 1982

Dustan, Phillip; Halas, John C.

doi:10.1007/bf00301378

Cited by 167 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

103

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Degradation of reefs in the Florida Keys has been documented by several recent studies (Dustan and Halas 1987;Porter and Meier 1992). Some studies suggested that water column nutrients were elevated along the Florida reef tract due to anthropogenic inputs from sewage contamination of groundwater and phosphate mining in western Florida and argued that these nutrient inputs were coincident with eutrophic reef degradation (Lapointe et al 1990.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of nutrients versus herbivores on reef algae: A new method for manipulating nutrients on coral reefs

Miller

Hay

Miller³

et al. 1999

Limnology & Oceanography

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There has been much discussion and some controversy regarding the role of nutrient enrichment versus other factors, such as altered rates of herbivory, in the degradation of coral reef ecosystems. The resolution of this controversy has been hampered by the lack of manipulative field studies testing the effects of ecologically relevant levels of nutrient enrichment on coral reef communities. We present a new method for adding ecologically relevant levels of nutrients to experimental substrates on coral reefs. The method elevates nutrients for sustained periods of time (Ͼ41 d without replenishment of nutrients) and allows for testing interactions of nutrients and altered levels of herbivory. Results from an offshore reef in Key Largo, Florida, show strong effects of excluding large herbivorous fishes, negligible effects of nutrient enrichment-or effects that are opposite of predictions, and no interaction between nutrient levels and herbivory in affecting algal abundance. Patterns observed for this reef did not confirm predictions of previously proposed models that frondose macroalgal or crustose algal abundance would be enhanced with nutrient enrichment or that dominance of filamentous turfs would be greater in unenriched conditions. In contrast to previous predictions, the abundance of larger macroalgae at this site was not increased by elevating nutrients above predicted threshold response levels of 1.0 M for total inorganic nitrogen or 0.10 M for soluble reactive phosphate. Also conflicting with some models, filamentous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria were enhanced, rather than suppressed, by nutrient enrichment.There is considerable concern among scientists and conservationists regarding the degradation of coral reef com-

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of nutrients versus herbivores on reef algae: A new method for manipulating nutrients on coral reefs

Miller

Hay

Miller³

et al. 1999

Limnology & Oceanography

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The rapid recovery of Acropora populations indicates that the Site-T and Site-Saint-Leu ville environments remained favorable enough for Acropora resettlement and survival. Similarly, in the Caribbean, after a serious degradation, reefs of the Florida Keys recovered rapidly (Shinn, 1976), but by contrast the Carysfort reef did not (Dustan & Halas, 1987).…”

Section: Acropora Stenoecious Corals Ruderals (R-strategists) Sensmentioning

confidence: 97%

Fringing Reefs of Reunion Island and Eutrophication Effects - Part 1: Long-Term Monitoring of Two Shallow Coral Reef Communities

Tourrand¹,

Naim²,

Bigot³

et al. 2013

Atoll Research Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

No . 5 9 6 P AR T 1 : L o n g -T e r m Mo n i t o r i n g o f T wo S h a l l o w Co r a l Re e f Co mmu n i t i e s C a t h e r i n e T o u r r a n d , Od i l e N a i m, L i o n e l B i g o t , C h r i s t o p h e C a d e t , B r u c e C a u v i n , S t u a r t S e mp l e , L u c i e n F . Mo n t a g g i o n i , P a s c a l e C h a b a n e t a n d He n r i c h B r u g g e ma n nNo . 5 9 7 No . 5 9 7 P AR T 2 : L o n g -T e r m Mo n i t o r i n g o f P r i ma r y P r o d u c e r s Od i l e N a i m, C a t h e r i n e T o u r r a n d , E n r i c B a l l e s t e r o s , S t u a r t S e mp l e , L i o n e l B i g o t , B r u c e C a u v i n , P a s c a l e C u e t , a n d L u c i e n F . Mo n t a g g i o n i No . 5 9 8 P AR T 3 : L o n g -T e r m Mo n i t o r i n g o f L i v i n g Co r a l s Od i l e N a i m, C a t h e r i n e T o u r r a n d , Ge r a r d F . F a u r e , L i o n e l B i g o t , B r u c e C a u v i n , S t u a r t S e mp l e a n d L u c i e n F . Mo n t a g g i o n iA T OL L R E S E AR C H B UL L E T I N NOS . 5 9 6 -5 9 8 FRINGING REEFS OF REUNION ISLAND AND EUTROPHICATION EFFECTS ABSTRACTThis study assesses changes in subtidal benthic communities on the largest reef flat in Reunion, Saint-Gilles La Saline, using several types of surveys. Temporal and spatial trends are documented over a 22 year period , thus spanning the 1998 and 2000s bleaching events. The most plausible explanations for the observed trends are proposed. We chose two sites that are characterized by two types of community and metabolism: (1) an oligotrophic site dominated by Acropora corals (Site-Toboggan), where sea-urchins are numerous and macroalgae rare and (2) a dystrophic site dominated by non-Acropora corals, mostly massive and submassive, where macroalgae abound and sea-urchins are almost absent (Site-Planch'Alizés). Results are presented in three parts : Part 1 : general trends of the communities, part 2 : primary producers, part 3 : living corals.Part 1 presents three surveys. Survey 1 reports status and trends across the reef flats in 1993, 1996, and 2002, with all attached benthic components reported at the level of the species where possible. Survey 2 reports composition and changes in associated sedentary organisms such as sea urchins, holothurids, and the Pomacentridae fish Stegastes. Survey 3 focuses on the period 1998 to 2009 on permanent transects established in 1987 and monitored periodically, partly as a contribution to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). In general, community structures at both locations remained stable, with primary producer coverage around 5% at Toboggan (T) and around 60% at Planch'Alizés (P). Living coral coverage averaged around 17% at both sites, but it was dominated by Acropora on Site-T (68%) and by massive corals on Site-P (88%). Regular echinoids were very abundant at T but almost absent from P, while the opposite was true for holothurids. The territorial damselfish Stegastes was of comparable abundance at both sites (<1 individuals per m 2 ). There were large changes in...

show abstract

“…Kissling's data indicated diverse living coral assemblages, with death assemblages dominated by fragments of Acropora spp. Subsequent monitoring studies by Dustan (1977), Dustan and Halas (1987), Jaap, Halas, and Muller (1988), and Porter and Meier (1992) all documented examples of coral decline but only from single sites or at limited spatial scales. Extrapolating these results to the entire Florida reef tract is problematic due to variability at scales larger than those of individual reefs (Murdoch and Aronson 1999).…”

Section: The Present Status Of the Florida Reef Tractmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological Shifts along the Florida Reef Tract 277 be surprising that some should be opportunistic pathogens of fish and marine invertebrates, including corals that are already stressed. Beginning in the 1970s and continuing through today, coral diseases or disease-like syndromes have appeared in other coral species throughout the Caribbean (Antonius 1977;Edmunds 1991;Nagelkerken et al 1997;Santavy et al 1999;Garzon-Ferreira et al 2001), Bermuda (Garrett and Ducklow 1975), and the Florida Keys (Dustan and Halas 1987;Kuta and Richardson 1996;Richardson et al 1998;Santavy et al 2001;Patterson et al 2002). Other environmental stressors such as pollution, increased nutrients, increased iron supply, African dust, and temperature may be associated with coral disease outbreaks, yet no firm connections have been established (Shinn 1996(Shinn , 2001Epstein et al 1998;Hayes and Goreau 1998;Harvell et al 1999;Hayes et al 2001;Jackson et al 2001;Richardson and Aronson 2002;Bruno et al 2004).…”

Section: Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Shifts along the Florida Reef Tract: The Past as a Key to the Future

Precht

Miller

Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology

122

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Changes in the reef-coral community of Carysfort reef, Key Largo, Florida: 1974 to 1982

Cited by 167 publications

References 27 publications

Effects of nutrients versus herbivores on reef algae: A new method for manipulating nutrients on coral reefs

Effects of nutrients versus herbivores on reef algae: A new method for manipulating nutrients on coral reefs

Fringing Reefs of Reunion Island and Eutrophication Effects - Part 1: Long-Term Monitoring of Two Shallow Coral Reef Communities

Ecological Shifts along the Florida Reef Tract: The Past as a Key to the Future

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About